In a bid to preserve a significant aspect of humanity on the moon, ispace, a Japanese lunar exploration company that aims to increase human presence in space, has partnered with UNESCO for its upcoming Hakuto-R Mission 2, which will send a robotic lander to the lunar surface. The mission aims to send a "memory disc" with 275 languages and other cultural artefacts to the lunar surface, which has been created by the UN body. This move is seen as an attempt to save a portion of human history in the event that the survival of humans on Earth is ever threatened, as per a report in Space.com
The languages will be included in the Preamble of the UNESCO Constitution, which emphasises the "importance of preserving world unity, linguistic diversity, and cultures." If the schedule goes as planned, iSpace plans to deploy the memory disc on its Resilience lunar lander as part of its Hakuto-R Mission 2 and deliver it to the moon sometime in late 2024.
Julien Lamamy, CEO of ispace-Europe, said in a statement, "Maintaining linguistic diversity and preserving culture are significant aspects of UNESCO's mandate. We are very honoured to announce that ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 will contribute to realise UNESCO's lunar mission to benefit the world,"
"We continue to progress on Hakuto-R Mission 2, with the recent lander and rover development achievements that put us on a timeline for a winter 2024 launch carrying UNESCO's payload," he continued.
Notably, the Japanese company's first moon lander named Hakuto-R was launched in December 2022 on the Mission-1. On April 25, 2023, the lander made a landing attempt, however, the spacecraft crashed because the onboard computer miscalculated the altitude. Hakuto-R Mission 2, the company's second mission, will be launched this year and will also include "a micro moon rover".
